Secrets In the Leaf's Shadow
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Uzu Namikaze was a mystery, an enigma in desperate need of solving. She was also without a reason or purpose. And despised the people she was meant to be hailed as a hero too. Until the third changed all of that. This is the story of an enigma who grew up to be one of the greatest shinobi. Rated M for a reason. Fem Naru.
1. Chapter 1

**Yo- it has definitely been a while.**

 **Sorry about that, I think I finally managed to burn myself out on Naruto for a while. But hopefully that's over. I got a brand new story for all of you and I hope that you like it since I can't seem to find my rewrite of my time travel Shikamaru/Naru/Kakashi story.**

 **Otherwise I would have reposted that.**

 **So just to be clear this story will touch on some subjects that are dark. Some of them may contain triggers. So be careful there, okay.**

 **Also I'm going to be using one of my more previously popular names for Fem Naru. No pairing as of yet, just new abilities and friends.**

 **Enjoy.**

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Leaning himself back against the tree trunk, he rested his head against the rough bark and closed his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time in so many minutes, when it had only been a few seconds since he had come to rest against the tree that he was currently using to hide behind so that he could catch himself a little fox.

A little fox by the name of Uzu Namikaze to be exact.

Today's meeting with the council to get them to cease their attempts to destroy the child had been, for the lack of a better word, a travesty.

Never in his many years as Hokage of the leaf village had he ever wished so badly to strike someone under his protection dead.

But he had today.

Oh god had he ever.

How anyone could hold little Uzu responsible for what had happened several months ago while the five year old had simply been out walking in the village, and lost control of her chakra all of a sudden resulting in the deaths of thirty people and the injuries of at least fifteen others- was _beyond_ his comprehension.

After all it wasn't like the child knew anything about chakra control. Or the fact that she held a demon within her that _may_ or _may not_ be able to take over her body at short intervals.

It wasn't like _someone_ had ever bothered to try and teach her anything about those things. So honestly, how could anyone in their right mind believe that what had happened was an actual fucking attack and not just some sort of accident?

 _How could anyone decree the death of another without my input?_ He thought to himself as he opened his eyes and gritted his teeth so hard that it felt like they would break at any moment.

The answer to his unspoken question was simple. He had been on a mission for the past five months and had thought that he had left everything in capable and trustworthy hands. Obviously he had been wrong about that, since many things had happened since his departure.

The accident, Uzu's forced brainwashing and weaponization. Her solo missions out of the village to prove her 'loyalty' to the village by either assassinating her given target/targets or dying by their hand.

Gritting his teeth even harder, he was vaguely aware of a 'snapping' sound coming from somewhere inside his mouth a mere second or so before he tasted the metallic taste of his own blood as he recalled how smug those bastard's faces had been when they had flat out told him that Uzu was being sent on another suicide mission and the only way to stop it was for someone of influence to adopt the child and train her in the things that concerned them all.

Which was why the moment he left the meeting, he had called upon his son Asuma Sarutobi and his advisor Shikaku Nara and asked them both what they thought of him taking Uzu as his adopted daughter or in this case due to his age granddaughter.

Both men had been curious and voiced some concerns, but Sarutobi had been relieved that neither man truly held any animosity towards the child and like him believed the incident that had taken place several months earlier had been nothing more than that. Just an accident.

Children who knew nothing of chakra control and whom held great reserves of power within them had incidents similar to Uzu's own, very often. The only difference was that they usually had someone to train them or help take responsibility to the accidents.

Uzu had had noone.

 _That shit is going to change. Every last bit of it..._ He thought as he continued to wait patiently for Uzu to appear so that he could grab her and return her to the village so that with some help with Ibiki, Inoichi and Shikaku, he could begin to undo the damaging programing that had been done to her young mind. Sighing softly to himself, he glanced up at the sky and had the random thought of what Minato- the late fourth hokage would say about his only child being treated so cruelly by the very village he had died to save.

"He would have laughed in all of your faces and told you to eat shit and die." The small voice coming from beside him, wasn't nearly as startling as it's source. Jerking his face down, he found himself looking down at the tiny strawberry blond head of none other than Uzu Namikaze herself.

"W-What?" He stammered out, thinking that surely he hadn't heard the little girl right. After all a child as young as she was rarely so intuitive- much less had the vocabulary of a seasoned sailor. Though if he had heard her right, she was dead on about how the fourth would have reacted to her treatment by the village.

The fourth had been notorious for being a vindictive bastard when alive. So he imagined him being much worse due to death.

The child tilted her head slightly, letting her barely shoulder length hair fall into her ruby colored eyes, baring a disturbing, angry looking scar running along the milky white skin of her throat to his gaze as she gauged his reaction to the wound that he could tell had come from a meat cleaver slashing the skin multiple times while it had been healing.

And knowing the little one like he did, she probably had been strapped down to something kicking and screaming while it was being done to her.

Making him wonder what else had been done to her while he had been away from the village. Surely Kakashi had checked on the child as he had been requested, very, very firmly to do. Especially since the jounin wasn't one to abuse others. Especially children related to the man who had been like a second father to him after his late father's death.

But seeing as the scar was there instead of flawless milky skin, he would obviously have to have words with the lad as well as the council members once he had Uzu back in the village. "Is something wrong?" The girl asked after several moments of total silence. Sensing that the elder wanted something from her, a word? Perhaps a favor?

That was fine. She supposed, since she had already had kunai used on her along with various other instruments. He could use her mouth or one of the other places if he wished. As long as he didn't try using anything metal on her like the others had.

There was a reason why at least three men in the leaf village now hobbled around without very important pieces of their anatomy in place.

The elder blinked at her as if he hadn't heard her before and his brain was taking it's sweet time catching up. That was fine too, she supposed since she wasn't in any particular hurry at the moment.

Itachi would be coming soon and she knew that she had to wait for him to show up and give her the bag of heads and let him smear blood on her skin and clothes if she didn't want a repeat of this particular mission to occur. And as bad as she felt about Itachi being used by her, the boy was already in Anbu.

A captain of his own team.

And he didn't seem to mind helping her since he had been nearby the day that the incident occurred several months ago and knew that she hadn't meant to hurt or kill anyone. She had been in the middle of practicing something that she had read about in a medical scroll that she had come by in the local school library.

The scroll itself mentioned how to store chakra within one's own body for later use. It even showed a design that had to be branded into the skin of the one using the chakra storage method.

For some reason she hadn't understood at the time, she had either stored so much chakra within her small body, or simply had too much to begin with- causing said chakra to escape her in a devastating explosion that had killed thirty people, both shinobi and civilian alike.

All of different ranks and ages.

While others caught in the blast had been wounded or knocked unconscious.

Itachi had been there and later explained it to her while she was later on held in the Anbu's prison cell in chakra restraints- that what had happened was something along the lines of a chakra scalpel- only much larger and more heavily concentrated which was what had caused the explosion and deaths. As well as caused the injuries of others.

He had known that she hadn't meant for it to happen and had visited her every day for a month while the council was trying to figure out what to do with her. And in the end he had been greatly angered by their carelesssness towards one of their own.

An innocent child at that.

Yet he had been helpless to stop everything that had occurred from then on. He would have been labeled a traitor if he had tried. Perhaps that was why helped her now, Uzu thought to herself as the elder finally managed to speak to her. His voice cutting through her thoughts and bringing her back to the present.

"Child, do you know who I am?" Sarutobi asked, someone on edge about this conversation. Or perhaps he wasn't on edge, maybe he was just nervous. After all, the fourth's dying wish was that his daughter be hailed as a hero by the village. And it was the one thing that he had failed to see her treated as by others.

But just because others failed to see her as what she really was, didn't mean that Sarutobi didn't care enough to see her as the village hero. Hell at this point he was ready to proclaim her a goddess and begin the religion of Uzu the Almighty.

He even planned to start it out as a cult that would bow to her every whim. If that was the only choice left to him at this point in time, but hopefully things hadn't progressed quite that far yet. Not that he wouldn't look absolutely- how did the young ones say it now? Bitchin? Yes, yes that was the word he was searching for.

 _Bitchin_ , in a form fitting floor length royal blue robe complete with a woven gold tasseled belt and ceremonial dagger with royal blue sapphires and a silver goblet encrusted with gems for Uzu to drink from.

Yes, that would do perfectly for their cult.

"You're the Hokage." Uzu said, her voice snapping him out of his daydream. Which sucked because he'd always wanted to be the member of some brainless cult. And being a part of Uzu's just felt...well, right.

He smiled at her and reached out to ruffle her hair in an affectionate manner when Uzu shrieked and jumped back away from him, her hands automatically going up in a defensive gesture as she glared at him from under her long bangs, her ruby eyes darkening to a malevolent garnet red.

"What was that? What were you doing?" Sarutobi stared at her for a moment and then stared down at his open palm in a quizzical manner.

Did the child think that he meant to harm her? Is that why she had reacted so strangely? He wondered as he asked, "Uzu, do you think I mean to hurt you?" He kept his tone neutral, light, calm. Or rather as calm as could be expected when one had a child react to a simple touch in that manner.

She had a kunai in her hand now and her glare was as icy as her tone as she replied, "Weren't you?" She would not let this man who ran the village she lived in, fool her. She had already made far too many enemies to believe that the Hokage would be on her side. Or even care about her side or whatever reason had brought him beyond the village walls.

She didn't care anymore. If he made another move to touch her- she'd kill him.

He sighed in an almost disappointed manner and knelt down so that they were both at eye level and stated very calmly, and rationally. "No. I have no desire to harm you now or ever. I came here today to imform you that I was formally adopting you as my child or grandchild as the case may be. And as such, you no longer have to go on these missions." She gaped at him for a second, obviously having not expected that after everything that had happened to her.

"You will have my name to protect you until I can train you to protect yourself. You don't have to live with me, since you do not trust me. But I would like to have permission to find you a better place to live and improve on certain conditions. You would get a weekly allowance to help you pay rent and get food and whatever else you need- as long as it is within reason. And I will spend several hours a day training you in chakra control and hand to hand. Do you think you can live with this?" He asked as a common courtesy. After all the child had been through much and simply ordering her to do as he said may not sit well with her.

She may start to see him as an enemy too. And that was the last thing he wanted of her.

Uzu was quiet as she thought over what he had just said. Sure being adopted formally into his family would give her a bit more freedom, but at the same time it would make her just as much a target as she was now. Still, she had no qualms with a majority of his offer.

Having a family for once would maybe be nice, she guessed as she continued to go over everything else he offered. Better living conditions would also be nice since she was rather independent. An allowance would be fine as long as it was enough to do as he said.

Training more would also be welcome. Despite the multitude of time she spent training on her own- she was never sure if she was doing anything right or not. It's why most times she relied on nothing but sheer brute strength alone. So help would be nice too. But before she agreed to anything she'd have to ask him if he knew about her strength or not.

Otherwise those training sessions would be cut painfully short.

No longer being forced to do the council's bidding would free her up her time greatly. Something that she would appreciate all the more when she managed to murder every last one of those fuckers. And she would too. She already poisoned one before leaving the village. Meaning that she'd be adding one more name to the long list of names that she kept hidden under her mattress.

Which she would have to burn once she was home. But that wasn't really here nor there.

"Before I agree to anything, I have to know if you know about my strength. Otherwise those training sessions you offered will end in death."

Sarutobi blinked at her for a second before asking. "What are you talking about?" To which Uzu sighed and put her kunai away and walked several feet away from him and placed her palm against a tree nearly the width of a medium sized building and gave a barely noticeable, _push_ , causing the truck of the tree to splinter with a loud crack and then begin to tip and fall to the ground.

Eyes the size of saucers and still growing, Sarutobi gaped at Uzu like a fish as the tree finally crashed to the ground. _Holy shit!_ No he hadn't been aware that she could do that. And yes, he was wondering if he could take back the training lessons he offered her.

He didn't have a death wish after all.

But he knew that if he took it back now, she would likely never agree to anything he said and the council would continue to send her out on missions until she got killed. So what he had now was a clear case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Still, she needed someone to guide her. And he was the next best thing, he supposed, as she turned to stare at him again and seemed to be waiting for something. For him to run screaming in the opposite direction of her maybe?

It was a tempting thought. Very much so. But Sarutobi would stand firm on this. Even though his knees suddenly felt a mite on the weak and shaky side. Uzu would be a member of his family and he would train her. Oh look he was so thrilled by the idea that his eyes were tearing up and he was starting to sniffle a bit.

"Well?" She asked in that tiny voice of hers. "Have you changed your mind yet?"

He simply shook his head, no. Not really trusting his voice at the moment. Of course he was sort of changing his mind. His mind was going all over the place trying to figure out someone better suited for caring for the girl. But in the end the only two people he could think of were Jirayia and Tsunade.

Two of the legendary sanin.

Neither of which were currently residing within the village. _What a disaster._ He thought as Uzu snorted, knowing very well what seemed to be going through his mind, yet voicing none of it. She'd say this for the elder, he was impressive in his stupidity.

But as the old saying goes, no guts- no glory.

Although in his case it should probably be changed to, no guts- _ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, why!?_ Or something like that. Sensing a familiar chakra signature closing in on her location, she stood there for several more moments when she felt the air stir around her and turned her head to look at Itachi's raven mask and blood spattered uniform.

Reaching up, the tall ten year old tugged his mask off and gave the girl a small smile before leaning down and kissing her cheek and then noted the Hokage a few feet away and asked curiously, "What did I miss?"


	2. Chapter 2

Sensing a familiar chakra signature closing in on her location, she stood there for several more moments when she felt the air stir around her and turned her head to look at Itachi's raven mask and blood spattered uniform.

Reaching up, the tall ten year old tugged his mask off and gave the girl a small smile before leaning down and kissing her cheek and then noted the Hokage a few feet away and asked curiously, "What did I miss?"

"A lot, apparently." Uzu replied under her breath so only he would hear her. The Uchiha prodigy only hummed in response and watched the Village Hokage through dark calculating eyes. His mind already racing about the reason's why the Kage would be here, in this particular place, at this current time.

Had he come out to make sure that Uzu went through with the mission? Or had he come out to do something _more_ nefarious to her? The thought alone made his gloved fingers twitch some as he hand slowly went for his weapon's pouch, his eyes narrowing at the man in a malicious glare.

His hand was almost to his weapon's pouch when Uzu's hand shot out and grasped his wrist in a careful grip, so that she didn't accidentally harm him. _"Don't."_ Uzu hissed out softly. The one word coupled with her tone, could easily freeze the blood in his veins. Yet he wasn't scared.

He had no reason to be afraid of her.

Not when he knew she held affection for him. Just as he held affection for her. He did however give her a peculiar look that pretty much said that he'd listen to her order for now and casually observe the Hokage to see what he was up too. But if he discovered that he was up to no good- she'd better not try and stop him.

Uzu nodded her head in silent understanding as the Hokage finally seemed to finish his internal freak out and returned to the here and now only to notice that Itachi Uchiha was present. In his full Anbu black ops uniform, his mask thread clutched tightly in his gloved hand.

The ten year old boy stood half in front of the five year old girl in a somewhat possessive/protective manner. His dark eyes held a calculating light as he practically glared at the elder. As if he didn't care much for his presence. Or as if he thought he was planning to do something hurtful to Uzu.

"Itachi." He said politely, with a small nod of his head in the boy's direction.

The boy thinned his lips and narrowed his eyes at the elder before he bit out from between clenched teeth, _"Hokage."_ There was no suffix after the word, no show of respect of any kind. There was only the venom in his tone.

 _Ah. So that's it,_ Sarutobi after a moment of careful thought before realizing that Itachi was protective of Uzu,. And as such probably thought that _he_ was the one who sent her on all of those missions, and okayed the abuse that she had suffered and thus, the boy was trying to think of the best way to get her away from him _safely_. The realization hurt him. Knowing that these two children did not even trust their Kage with their well being.

It hurt even more to think that Itachi probably had no idea that he had been out of the village for the past few months- leaving the village, and Uzu's care in the hands of the council. And how they had misused the authority he had granted them to cause great harm to the child and possibly to others.

 _I need to straighten this out now!_ He thought as he walked over to Itachi slowly, watching as the boy tensed and prepared for him to attack him. He also noticed that the boy pushed Uzu completely behind him and took up a fighting stance in front of her.

The purpose of doing so was to give the child time to escape while Itachi fought him. Assuming of course that he didn't think of making shadow clones of himself to send after the girl.

It was a flawed plan on Itachi's behalf, but that just showed him just how desperate the boy was to protect Uzu.

Stopping just shy of the two kids, Sarutobi stared at them impassively for a moment and felt a surge of pride in these two. That through great and nearly insurmountable odds, they showed their will of fire. And their little sparks burned most brightly.

Blindingly so.

It was in that moment that he could almost see the two of them in the future, many years from now. Itachi standing with his back to Uzu's as her whole body glowed with a radiant almost otherworldly light. The likes of which shone so brightly that he almost felt his eyes begin to water.

It was a nice vision. A wonderful one.

He imagined Itachi would still be in Anbu later on. And Uzu...he could imagine her as two things. A medic nin or Hokage. It was right then and there that he came to an important decision about Uzu's future. He pointed at her and said, "To be Hokage is your dream." Causing both Itachi and the little girl to snarl at him.

"That's not her dream old man! Stop trying to force her to be something she doesn't wanna be!" Itachi snapped angrily, his sharigan activating as he glared at the elder in rage.

 _How. dare. he!_ How dare this stupid old man try and place Uzu in a position like Hokage. It wasn't her dream! Dreams were for people who could afford them or for people with futures- Uzu had neither. So telling her that she would be Hokage was just plain cruel!

Sarutobi said nothing else for a moment as he slowly put his hand back to his side and waited for a second before noticing that it was getting late. Before he took her to her new home, he'd need to find her one first. Preferably one with a nice landlord.

He had a few ideas on where to start looking, but who to send? After all, he also needed Uzu to be checked out at the local hospital to see what else he would be committing murder of the council members for.

"Itachi, I wonder if you could do an old man a favor while I run an errand?" The boy's angry snarl was instantly replaced by a confused look. "I need you to go to the village and see if you can find Uzu a new apartment. I'm not sure if you're aware but the one she's been living in isn't fit for more than cockroaches. She needs someplace without mold, insects, it should be a little big. A three bedroom should do, with one bathroom and a nice kitchen and dinning room. Think you can find one of those with a nice landlord for me?"

Itachi looked at him like he'd grown another head for a moment before thinking that it was the man's way of trying to separate him from Uzu and carefully schooled his emotions as he made several shadow clones and sent them to do as the Hokage had bid.

Sarutobi, realizing that the child simply didn't trust him enough to be alone with Uzu for any length of time, sighed but said nothing to him as the boy shot him a somewhat smug look. "Very well Itachi, you may come with us. I only thought to spare Uzu some embarrassment." Sarutobi said before explaining his purpose behind trying to occupy the boy so that neither child would fear what came next as he began to walk back towards the village not bothering to check and see if the kids were following since he knew they were.

He could feel their anxiety in the fluctuations in their chakra.


	3. Chapter 3

Barely an hour after being returned to the village, Uzu and Itachi both found themselves standing outside of the village hospital with the Hokage's back still to them as Itachi suddenly understood (or at the very least thought he did) what the elder had meant earlier when he had tried to send him away from them.

The man had intended all along to bring Uzu here. But for what exactly? She wasn't injured. At least, he thought as he cast a worried glance her way, not that he could visibly see anyways. Was that what was going on here? Did the old man really intend to have her looked at?

Here of all places?

Part of Itachi wanted to believe that the village leader meant well, but the more cynical side of his personality wouldn't allow him to fall for any shit. Not now. Not after everything that had been done to Uzu. Not after his pitiful attempts to protect her had nearly had him labeled a traitor to the village and almost gotten him, his little brother and everyone else in his clan murdered.

No- the cynical side of him didn't truly believe anything that the old man did was for Uzu.

Not when one of the last times Itachi had seen her in a hospital it had been when some 'surgeon's' hand picked by the council had dragged the five year old from her cell at Anbu headquarters in the dead of the night and strapped her down to one of the steel tables and while she was still conscious enough to feel pain- to even scream- had began to carve her up and pull out various organs.

 _Just to see what made her tick._

The sights, sounds and smells of various bodily fluids from that night still turned Itachi's stomach and made him violently ill. And why wouldn't it? It was the night she had earned several of the scars that marred her small and otherwise flawless body.

Scared but unable to move, Uzu stood shaking next to him as he reached out and grasped her thin shoulders and pulled her against his body as he looked at the elder and stammered out, "W-We c-can't b-be h-here." Causing the Hokage to turn and look at him for a moment, his expression curious as Itachi pulled Uzu tighter against him and felt her bury her face against his uniform in an effort to hide her steadily mounting fear as he said more fiercely. _"We need to leave."_

"Itachi, I only brought Uzu here for a physical. I know neither of you like it, but it has to be done." Sarutobi said, coaxingly- in a gentle tone that he hoped would sooth both of the children. However his words only served to anger and frustrate Itachi even more.

The boy shot him a dark glare and slowly shook his head no as he held onto little Uzu as tightly as she was holding onto him. "You're not fucking listening!" Itachi shouted at him, all effort, patience and control now lost to his rage as he let his chakra flair in warning. " _I will kill you_ \- before I let you take her in there for _any_ reason." Itachi was practically screaming at him now.

His sharigan was activated again and he was so angry that Sarutobi felt an actual sliver of fear... That the boy actually meant what he said. That he really would make an attempt to kill him to prevent him from taking Uzu into the hospital.

Worried about the boy's mental state, Sarutobi turned to completely face the boy and Uzu and sat down with his legs crossed right there on the hospital walk way and took a moment to think carefully. After all, Itachi was a bright, _rational_ and passionate child. He wouldn't be acting this way without a very good reason.

Sensing that the Hokage had something to say and wishing to spare Uzu from whatever was to be said, Itachi took a moment or so to pry Uzu from against him and used his gloved finger tips to tip her head back so that he could look at her angelic little face.

She was ashen, her eyes red rimmed and shimmering with unshed tears as he kissed her forehead and quickly told her that he was going to put her to sleep for a little while. He would wake her when he was done with the old man.

Strangely enough, for once, she didn't bother to fight him as he used his sharigan to place her in a nice, calming, non threatening genjutsu. And then once he was completely sure that she was totally out of it and had fallen asleep without any issues- he gently lowered her small body to the ground and then once again faced the Hokage.

His dark eyes angry and wary all at once.

After all the man wasn't known as the most brilliant tactician in the village for just any old reason. And as intelligent as Itachi was, he didn't have quite so much experience. So he was pretty sure that if he actually tangled with the man- he'd wipe the floor with him.

But dammit! He was at least going to break a few of his bones before he was taken out.

It wasn't the best that he could do, but considering who his opponent was and who he was fighting for the sake of- he didn't think it was all _that_ bad. Not once one factored in age, skill, and other various stuff...

Not really anyways.

As long as he aimed well.

"Itachi," The boy looked at the elder for a moment before the man asked, "Why do you and Uzu feel so threatened here? The hospital is a place of healing and renewal. You know that right?"

"This place is not a place of healing," Itachi spat at him in a growling tone that would have impressed Kakashi and his brood of ninja pups. Hell, the growling rumble quality of the boy's voice impressed him. "This isn't a place of healing at all. Not for us. This place is a joke! A travesty that should be burned to the ground." Itachi continued to growl.

Sarutobi blinked at the boy and then glanced over his shoulder at the stone and glass building and then back at Itachi and frowned for a moment before asking, "Why do you feel that way? What was so terrible that both you and Uzu fear this place so strongly?"

Itachi looked at him for a second, his expression changing rapidly from rage to puzzled then back again.

"Why do you care? You didn't before." He snapped in a harsh tone, causing Sarutobi to tilt his head to the side a bit as he considered the child for a second.

"Do you mean the past few month?"

"Of course that's what I mean! Are you senile?!"

"No. Nor am I stupid. I am well aware that something has been going on within the village while I was gone these past few months. That is why I wanted to bring Uzu here. Because I need to know what was done." He had to know so that he could hopefully repair some of the damage that the council had created. But he also needed to know so that he could give them an more accurate punishment.

Like the saying said; let the punishment fit the crime.

Itachi was silent as his mind turned the man's words over as if trying to understand how that could be. Every order he and others had gotten for the past few months- everyone knew that they came from the Hokage. So if the Kage had been gone...then who did that leave to give orders?

The question was simple.

The words flashed though his mind like a neon sign. **_The council._** And for one of the first time's in his life, Itachi wished to see each of them drowning in their own blood.

His rage and anger towards those puffed up, self important cunts, was so great.

Now everything made sense. Uzu's imprisonment, her torture, the missions, the threats on his life and the lives of his family and clan if he didn't do exactly what they said.

They had abused their authority and power outrageously. And as a result had wounded more than one person so that they could further their own agenda's. _Someone's going to fucking die for this!_ He thought as his chakra flared dangerously around him as he finally managed to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

He felt something heavy on his shoulder and slowly reigned in his chakra to find the old man standing there with a slightly pained look on his face before he thought to look down at the hand laying on his shoulder.

His chakra had burned some of the skin right off the old man. And as bad about that as he felt right then, all he could do was grab the elder by his shirt and grip the material tightly in his small fist as he choked out, "Please... Tell me you plan to kill them for what they've done."

At a loss as to what to say, Sarutobi stared into Itachi's grief filled eyes and gently covered the hand gripping his shirt and said. "I can only do so if what they have done is a crime against humanity." Which was true. He couldn't kill them for anything less.

Abuse of power and some other things only got them stripped of their power and lands and got them exiled from the village. And only a few more things could get them imprisoned.

So unless what they had done was considered a crime against humanity- his hands were technically tied. Which made him wonder, if Itachi was begging him to kill them, just what the fuck had they done?


	4. Chapter 4

If Itachi was begging him to kill them, just what the fuck had they done? Sarutobi wondered as he tried as best as he could to comfort the distraught boy.

Unfortunately, Itachi didn't feel comforted in the least by the man's touch.

In fact the moment he went to try and sooth him by rubbing his back like he used to do for his own son when he had been the same age and he'd been upset- the boy practically jerked himself away from him and made his way back over to Uzu.

And then scooped her up in his arm and sat down like the Kage had several minutes before, and carefully situated the little girl in his lap and began to use his gloved hand to finger comb the shoulder length silky tresses as he slowly began rocking back and forth and whispering to Uzu despite the fact that Sarutobi was fairly sure that the girl was so deeply under his genjutsu that she couldn't hear him speak.

Much less know or understand what they had been speaking about and the reason for Itachi's more than apparent distress.

 _It would seem that my council have much to answer for._ Sarutobi thought angrily to himself before kneeling down in front of Itachi and saying in a very firm tone, "I know that you don't want to be here- And I know that both you and Uzu fear this place for a reason, but I'm afraid that I must insist on the exam if I am to punish the council for abusing their power while I was gone."

Itachi looked at him, his eyes wide and horrified by the very thought of them being in that place again. So just to assure the boy that everything would be fine, the elder pressed on and said very carefully, "All of us will go in," Against Itachi looked utterly horrified and shook his head no, causing the Kage to reach out and stop the boy's head movement by framing his face. "You can keep Uzu safely under the genjutsu, and the two of us will never leave her side for a moment. But during the exam I'm going to need you to be strong and to preserve her modesty by averting you're eyes. As her adopted family- I won't have to look away unless I'm uncomfortable. So my eyes will never leave her face, and between the two of us we'll make the hospital a safe place for her again. I've already got a doctor in mind to do the exam- she's very nice and trustworthy and has never given me a reason to believe otherwise. _I. Will. Not. Allow. Anything. To._ _Happen._ To either of you. Do you understand?" He said gently but firmly to impress upon the boy just how seriously he intended to take this particular task.

He meant it. Itachi could see his intentions as clear as day in the man's expression, that he fully intended to do _exactly_ as he had just promised him. And as nice as it was to fully understand that, one question still plagued the Uchiha's mind.

 _What if 'they' were inside the building right now?_ He wondered, his mind thinking back to the night that Uzu had been strapped down and tortured by various doctors. The thought alone was nearly enough to send him into hysterics even with the Kage there with him.

He did not want those sadistic animals anywhere near his girl ever again!

He chewed his bottom lip for a moment as the elder released his grasp on him as he mulled over whether or not he should voice his concerns.

He wanted to say something. Truly he did. But some part of him was almost too scared that if he did, his trust in the man _could_ and _would_ be misplaced. But the man had said very plainly during their conversation before that he had been out of the village for several months. Meaning that he wasn't responsible for everything that had happened during his absence.

He had just returned to the village to find out that something had occurred and now he was trying to fix it by helping improve Uzu's life, health- both physical and mental- and to completely help her, he needed to know the extent of the damage inflicted.

So on one hand he could see why actual physical evidence of Uzu's abuse would come in handy. Especially if he actually planned to take on the council. But at the same time Itachi would have preferred something less invasive and traumatizing...for both of them.

Still- to some degree he knew that this was the right way to go. So once he finally came to this conclusion it gave him the courage to speak up. "W-What if we run into...'them'?" Itachi asked as he shifted Uzu in his arms so that he could run one of his gloved fingers along the dark angry scar on her pale throat.

Drawing the elder's eyes to Uzu's neck with the subtle motion, the man's dark gaze widened a fraction of a second as realization slammed into him hard and he quickly narrowed his eyes and looked back at the building from over one of his shoulders, his mind practically screaming.

 _They hadn't!_ But the truth of things was so horrifying that he now understood the full severity of some of what had occurred in his absence. And he seethed with rage at the knowledge that someone would be so warped and twisted as to use a place that was a sanctuary for the injured, ill, and dying- a place meant to be for healing and rebirth- to torture an innocent child to such a degree.

That he almost lost his temper and snarled. _Those damned monsters!_ How. Dare. They! Turning back to Itachi, with a dark expression of barely leashed rage, he growled out. "If you see them. Point them out to me, and they'll die this night for their crimes."

Itachi studied the Kage for a moment before slowly nodding his head in agreement and slowly got to his feet with Uzu still carefully cradled in his arms as the elder also got to his feet and straightened his spine so that he stood at his full height.

"Come Itachi." He said as he started moving towards the door with the boy walking beside him as the elder thought, _It's_ _time I clean house and take out the trash._


	5. Chapter 5

Just outside the leaf village a lone silver haired figure dressed completely in black tiredly trudged along the old dirt road leading the village's main gate. _Christ but this last mission had been a bitch._ He thought as he tried to bite back an exhausted yawn. He felt so physically and mentally drained that he couldn't wait to turn in his paper work on the mission and go home for some much needed sleep and R &R before he went to check on Uzu.

His late sensei's orphaned daughter.

Perking up a tad at the very thought of said child, he smiled to himself as he thought about the scrolls, books and other presents he'd brought back with him. Which included a pretty white kimono with pale blue flowers and soft green and pink butterflies on it, a matching set of hand made silk slippers, plus a matching pink and soft green butterfly hair comb.

There were other gifts stuffed in his pack, a few shirts, two pairs of shorts, a nice jacket that she should be able to wear until after she hit her next growth spurt. Three sun dresses.

A cute, knee length green one with a pretty white floral design around the collar. A sleeveless sky blue ankle length with a little pink ribbon that tied at the throat. And then there was the faded pink one with some bead work along the collar that looked like little roses.

He'd liked that one so much that he had even snatched up the hair clips that matched the bead work.

He'd also gotten the girl five pairs of pants, and three new sets of PJ's before he'd finally gone broke. Yes indeed, he thought almost amused at his own antics. Those shop keepers had been able to see him coming a mile away. And would likely ambush him the next time he was in their particular neck of the woods.

Of course hopefully by then he'd be an old man and wouldn't feel so inclined to buy gifts to spoil little Uzu with. He chuckled to himself as he thought about the girl's reaction when she woke up in the next day or so and found everything he'd gotten for her.

He knew that as an orphan, she tended to slip most people's notice unless they were angry and wished to use her as a scape goat of sorts. And as much as he wished to completely stop that, only a legal guardian could step in and do so. And as much as he adored the child, his life as a shinobi was simply too unstable for him to be allowed to take her in legally.

But that didn't mean that he had to like it all though. He checked up on her enough between missions to know that people were attacking her and hurting her. Attempting to end her precious life or to break her of her will to live. He knew that the store owners in the village gave her spoiled foods- like fish, meat, eggs, and milk- just to name a few things. Just like others charged far too much for what little clothing she could manage to purchase. Leaving her to run around the village in rags a majority of the time.

He knew she had never had toys. Or had anyone to celebrate her birthday with.

She was denied even the smallest and kindest of things due to the hatred and ignorance of others.

And though he often felt no better than anyone else- it wasn't because he didn't care. The fact that he bothered checking on her at all, should count for something. But his mind sniped at him often, that it didn't.

There was no excuse for his absences. No excuse for her to suffer needlessly or go without.

And though it was a foolish hope on his part, he hoped that he could somehow fix things... He just had to take it one step at a time. Which was possibly why he had bought so much for her while out of the village.

Uzu may be an orphan but she wasn't just _any_ orphan, dammit. And he wanted her to have nice things and be happy.

Come to think of it, he stopped walking for a moment as a thought occurred to him, he had been out of the village for quite some time. He wondered if anyone had bothered to check up on her in his place.

Normally he'd ask Gai to do something like that since he was a decent fellow. Weird and mentally and physically exhausting to be around- but decent. However this time he hadn't been able too seeing as he'd been practically escorted out of the village by some Anbu after locking up his apartment.

He wondered if she had been eating right? If she had any decent food? If anything serious had occurred while he'd been gone? Had the villagers picked up their abuse and other shit towards her?

Was she still running around in rags? It was still summer now but fall was just around the corner and the whether would be getting cooler than comfortable for little children who liked warmth.

 _Maybe I should check on her before I go home_. He thought worriedly. And while he was at it he could check her food and some other things and maybe switch some better stuff out with what he found and drop off her presents before he took off.

Resuming his movement down the road, he picked up his pace until he was practically running. The sooner he returned to the village, the sooner he could see for himself whether or not Uzu was alright and _hopefully_ lay the sudden dread he was feeling in his heart and mind to rest.


	6. Chapter 6

Unfortunately that was not to be since his return to the village Kakashi Hatake, infamous Copy Nin of the village known in the leaf- had found Uzu's apartment void of life, but also gone from existence. The place had been burned down to nothing but smoldering cinders not too long ago.

And though he had fearfully searched for any signs or clues as to Uzu's whereabouts, he had found nothing. And when he had gone to seek the landlord of the apartment where the child was supposed to be, he had only been met with hatred upon mentioning the little girl's very name.

 _What on earth had happened while I was away?_ He wondered as he had left the landlord's home feeling angry and somewhat disheartened- yet at the same time determined now more than ever to find his sensei's daughter before something more terrible than what he imagined had already, could befall her.

Summoning his ninja pups, he demanded that they sniff out the only person he knew of to date that had never lied to him and sent them scattering while he took a moment to sit down and try and rest while he could since his chakra was beginning to run dangerously low.

He surmised that he had only been sitting down for several minutes, barely five, when his sharp ears heard the distinct sound of one of his pups, Biscuit, howling in the direction of training ground five. Quickly getting to his feet, Kakashi bounded off in the direction of the howl as fast as he could knowing that Gai would be able to tell him everything that he wanted to know.

And if he refused...well, he'd probably be spending a few months in traction in the hospital like the last time he'd truly pissed the silver haired man off.

(*********************************************************************************************************************************)

Gai had been monitoring the training of his latest batch of genin. Fresh from the academy, when he both sensed and heard Kakashi's pup just before it howled to let it's human know where he was. Thus informing the overly excited/slightly off guard jounin of Kakashi's impending arrival.

Clapping his hands to gain the attention of his genin, Gai waited until each of them stopped what they were doing completely and turned to face him before trying to send them away with a slightly weird expression that was just a bit hard to place on the normally overly chipper man's face. "Okay, good job today team. I just remembered that I have to take care of something. So you three should call it an early day-" He said, wanting the kids gone before Kakashi made his appearance since he already had a pretty good idea of what the man wanted.

He knew that his rival had been out of the village on an extended mission for the past few months and likely knew nothing of what had occurred. So it was safe to assume that his way of questioning Gai would be more than a little bit violent. And as such, he didn't want his genin to see his friend possibly beat the ever loving hell out of him before he calmed down.

Especially since he may very well blame Gai for not helping Uzu in his place as usual.

But it wasn't like Gai hadn't tried.

Ever since the incident that had been caused by Uzu, and her imprisonment- Gai had gone before the council a multitude of times and pleaded with them to let the child go. _He would keep her out of trouble._ However, every time he had gone before them, he had been turned away with the words, "No. The girl is being taken care of. There is no need for interference."

Those words had filled him with a certain amount of dread each time he heard them. And only caused him to worry more about the child's health. After all, he knew how the people on the council treated others that they deemed threats.

And as young as Uzu was, he knew that they most assuredly believed her to be a threat of great magnitude. So he had changed tactics and begged to be allowed to see her and make sure that she was alright with his own eyes.

They had allowed him into the Anbu prison- but it hadn't been to see Uzu.

Whoever he had seen that day, had used a transformation jutsu to pretend to be her. But he had known eve without saying anything as he left, that this was the only time he would be allowed anywhere close to where she was being held.

And whatever was being done to her was likely damaging in every way.

The kids all exchanged a look with each other and then looked at him as if they were going to argue. Hell they probably would have argued- after all, they had only been training for the past two in a half hours and while it was getting fairly late into the day- the sun hadn't quite set yet.

Besides, how could their sensei expect them to just call it a day so early? Each of them had their own reasons for wanting to remain and continue training.

Strength.

Practice.

To avoid one's parents even more now that one was a genin on an actual team...

Still, Gai couldn't allow them to stay. Not when he felt Kakashi's chakra from several feet away. The man had hidden himself well among the multitude of towering trees and was currently letting his chakra subtly fluctuate so that Gai would get the led out and send his brats away before they wound up hurt too.

Understanding all too well what message his friend was trying to send him, he shut the kids down and growled out, "That wasn't a request. It was an order- _now leave!_ " Causing his genin to all look at him as if they were puppies that he'd just kicked.

God he felt as if he had just kicked a bunch of puppies. He felt as if he had just drop kicked the hell out of them.

But it would appear as if his message had been heard and was understood loud and clear, the kids all collected their things and left. Leaving him alone with the upset Hatake for a good ten minutes or so just to be sure that they were gone, before Kakashi finally came out of his hiding place looking as if he wished to rip Gai's head off and then some.

Ditching his pack next to the tree he'd been hiding behind, Kakashi dropped it unceremoniously onto the ground mere seconds before going after Gai and grabbing the man by the neck and slamming him into the nearest hard surface and snarling out, _"What. Happened. To. Uzu?"_

Gai grunted in pain from the impact his body made as Kakashi snarled in his face like a rabid wolf. Sending slivers of fear down his spine as he took a moment to collect himself before opening his mouth to tell Kakashi of everything that he'd missed knowing that once he was done he would likely have to stop the man from murdering everyone involved in Uzu's imprisonment and treatment.


	7. Chapter 7

To say that Kakashi was a wreck once he finished speaking would be an understatement. To say that Gai was black and blue after suffering from several emotional outbursts from his friend, would also be an understatement. The training ground looking like a huge bomb had gone off- understatement.

To say that Kakashi had every right to currently be pissed and out for blood would be the goddamn understatement of the century. After all, Uzu was pack to the man. And a person should _never_ mess with a Hatake's pack or said person had a nasty tendency to skin them alive with their fangs.

So when everything was said and done and a peculiar eerie calm had finally settled over the Copy nin, Gai just about pissed himself in absolute abject terror.

Seriously the last time he'd seen Kakashi like this had been during the last war. And the body count had been staggering. So to say that the man was probably thinking about bleeding everyone on the council like stuck pigs as he stripped them of their flesh one bit at a time- was more than a safe bet.

It was a serious bet. One that he could win money on. And yet-

"How long?" Ah there it was. The multi million question. Gai should have expected Kakashi would have asked eventually, but part of him had sort of been hoping that he wouldn't ask while he was present.

He kind of liked his skin where it was.

However he knew that the question was important to his friend so even though that nagging little voice of self preservation was screaming in the back of his head to 'shut up' and 'dammit don't answer him!'. He knew that he had too before Kakashi would let him leave. And if he decided to drag him along on his killing spree Gai would become an accessory and if he became an accessory- he would lose his ranking and his genin team and he couldn't lose those.

His ranking was important to him. And his genin were so cute! Nothing at all like Kakashi, his supposed best friend. Whom was currently glaring at him like he'd like to break off one of his limbs and beat him to death with it. Come to think of it, he probably was getting that look from the Hatake because he hadn't answered the question yet.

Kakashi reached up and tugged his mask down from it's usual place upon his face so that Gai could see his lips peeled back from his teeth, his usually small fangs had lengthened until they were protruding from his mouth as he snarled at Gai. His mis matched eyes promising pain the likes of which the man had never felt before _if he didn't answer soon_.

Causing Gai to squeak in a weird manner as he scurried back away from the man yelling, "Almost five months!" Upon hearing, caused Kakashi to stop snarling for a moment as dread took root around his heart.

Almost five months of imprisonment... In the Anbu headquarters? Where people were help for interrogation. Torture. And sometimes even executed.

His little Uzu had been trapped in there all this time?

He suddenly felt faint, his legs giving from beneath him as dizziness and nauseousness warred with each other within him. There was no telling what had happened to Uzu within the time that had elapsed. Hell there wasn't even any way of knowing that she was still alive or not-

"She's alive Kakashi," Gai said, hoping to assure his friend that the only family he had left was still breathing if nothing else. "The last thing I heard about her was that Uchiha Itachi had taken up with her. And if he's really taken up with her, then it means that he's been trying to protect her." Gai said as he reached out and carefully took hold of Kakashi's elbow and gently maneuvered the man over to a tree so that he could lean against it with his head between his legs.

Just until he calmed down.

(*******************************************************************************************************************************)

Itachi's eyes were impossibly wide as he took in the blood and chaos around him from his place behind the Hokage. With his back pressed hard against the wall as the elder dealt with yet another of 'those' people. Making the body count four- no wait, hadn't the elder ganked two more of them that had been stupid enough to have moved to greet the man on the first floor?

He thought for a moment before nodding to himself. Yes, _yes_ , he had. Itachi thought as the latest body hit the floor at the elder's feet in a tangle of twisted and broken limbs and bloody, pulverized flesh.

Stepping over the body as if it were nothing, Sarutobi absently shook some of the blood from his hand as he made his way past the frozen and horrified nurses hiding behind the nurses station and said, "Come along Itachi." Causing the boy to awkwardly inch his way along the wall until he had caught up with the elder and quietly followed him down the hall a little ways before someone behind them- possibly a nurse just starting their shift, started screaming bloody murder.

Not that Itachi could blame the woman any. After everything he'd seen since stepping foot into the hospital, he was more than a little bit surprised that he hadn't been reduced to a nervous wreck.

Thank god for his Anbu training otherwise he might have been reduced to a mass of crying nerves being dragged by the scruff of his neck behind the elder as he maneuvered his way down the hall.

Not bothering to avoid any of the doctors or nurses that happened to be present. Sarutobi moved until he reached his destination and then quietly grasped the door knob in one of his bloody hands and twisted until he could easily push the door open and then stepped inside of the room. And then reached behind him and grasped Itachi's shirt and yanked him inside so fast that the mere action almost made his head spin seconds before he slammed the door closed.

Inside the office meant for physicals, everything was quiet and still. What few patients sat in the waiting room waiting for the doctor to come and get them while flipping through magazines and books while the two nurses at the nurses station, typed and chatted among themselves quietly so as not to disturb anyone.

Moving over to the nurses station, the women didn't even look up as a pen and piece of paper was offered to him. "Please sign patient's name. Give his or her social, medical background, if taking any medicines- name them and how many doses per day as well as how many milligrams. Give his or her age, social security number and name of doctor if you know it."

Sarutobi did as he was told to the best of his ability. But since he didn't know Uzu's medical background (because that was more or less what he was here to learn) he had to leave it and the part about medicines blank since he doubted she took anything for any reason.

He did however put down that it was likely her first visit and name the specialist he wanted looking at her.

Lilith Julian.


	8. Chapter 8

The moment medical nin Lilith Julian heard that the Hokage was in her office asking for her, she handed off her current appointment in lieu of going to see what her old friend wanted. If she were a betting woman, she would have bet it had something to do with Uzu since strange rumors had been circulating within the village for months now about the child.

Stepping out into the waiting room, she took a moment to look around before noting the elder standing with the young Uchiha clan prodigy, Itachi. Whom was fully decked out in his blood spattered Anbu uniform and cradled carefully in the young boy's arms was none other than Uzu herself.

"Sarutobi-sama," She said as she stepped out into the waiting room and walked over to the Hokage and shook hands with him. "What are you doing here? It isn't time for you're next physical is it?" It wasn't, she was sure. But she asked just in case since ninja sometimes came to her for random check ups, physicals and so on.

Especially after incredibly stressful missions.

Sarutobi gave Lilith a grim looking smile and looked down at the kids, as he replied. "No. No not me. I need you to check someone else." Getting the picture without having to be told aloud what her next appointment was to be- she glanced down at the two kids again.

At first glance Itachi seemed to be fine. But once she took a moment to look closer she saw dark circles under his eyes, they were faint, probably hidden by a jutsu so no one would be terribly alarmed by their appearance since some Anbu missions lasted days, weeks, even months where time for indulging in sleep was often scarce.

And then there was Uzu.

The child hadn't stirred even once in all the time she'd been in Lilith's office. Which was incredibly odd considering how wary and watchful the child usually was around strangers. And after hearing some of the dreadful things she'd heard... She began to apply some of those rumors and one could plainly tell just by looking that while still a tad bit on the small side, the girl was far taller than she should have been for a five year old.

And from what she had on record of both Uzu's late parent's- the kid would likely be fife nine or something before she stopped growing. On top of that there was the girl's weight to consider, she noted as she took in the more than slender frame of the child.

She was thin.

Almost frighteningly so though Lilith doubted that she would be able to see any bones just under her skin. No, if someone had been deliberately starving the child there were more subtle ways to go about it. Forcing her to skip meals was one way. And giving her soldier pills might keep her from totally starving to death for a while- but would play havoc with her chakra and force her to burn more calories than her body likely had right now.

And then lastly, there was the scarred skin along her neck.

Lilith was one of the few people in the village who knew just how bad an injury had to be for it to scar Uzu. So seeing the scar on her neck and knowing what it represented, sickened her.

"I wish you to give Uzu a _thorough_ physical exam." Sarutobi finally said as he released her hand from his own. Lilith nodded her head in understanding and motioned for them to come back into an exam room. Once there, she quietly closed the door and then motioned for Itachi to lay Uzu on the exam table and then turned to Sarutobi.

"Just how thorough of an exam do you want me to preform?" She asked curiously. The elder moved forward and glanced at the sleeping girl for a moment before asking Itachi,

"Just how deeply is she under?" Earning a look from Lilith that would have sent a lesser man running for cover. Obviously the woman felt a bit protective of the girl- otherwise he'd be on the floor bleeding right about now for Uzu being placed under a genjutsu.

"Deeply enough. She won't remember anything that happens here." Itachi said somewhat hesitantly.

"Good." Sarutobi said as he then shifted his eyes back to Lilith and then said, "I want everything checked." Lilith blinked at him. He couldn't mean what she thought he meant by 'everything' could he? But then he went on to tack on, "Inside and out." And she felt a peculiar unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

 _Oh._ She thought as she washed her hands and then pulled out a pair of gloves. Best to get the worst of it out of the way, She thought as she moved to find the things she would need to preform the 'inside' part of the exam as Itachi promptly presented everyone in the room with his back while Sarutobi took several minutes to undress Uzu and put a thin gown that Lilith held out to him, on her and then stood back so that she could get started.

"Keep your eyes averted Itachi. This is a very private exam." Sarutobi said in a gentle tone meant to sooth the tense boy as Lilith pulled some stirrups up along the bottom length of the exam table and took a moment to place Uzu's slender legs in them and then lubed up her gloved fingers and then slowly and carefully pushed them inside of the girl and paled when she noted no resistance.

Sarutobi's dark eyes noticed the sudden paleness of his long time friends face as she took a second to feel around inside of Uzu before withdrawing her fingers and then grabbing a metal tool and smearing it with enough lube to slip it inside of the girl. And after several seconds of hearing some strange sound coming from the tool the woman grabbed a bright light and peered inside of Uzu's opening and let her breath leave her in a slow and angry hiss before withdrawing the tool and tossing it in the sink several feet away.

Sarutobi felt a painful sensation around his heart at Lilith's actions and slowly, and despite dreading what he may hear, asked what was wrong.

Lilith's blue eyes flashed maliciously as she turned her attention to him, "What's wrong is that Uzu has been violated. And from the amount of scar tissue she has inside of her it's been going on for a while. There's signs of brutality that I've never witnessed before even during the last war."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that whoever has been violating her didn't just use their bodies to do it- they used tools. _Sharp_ ones meant to inflict agony that no child should feel."

Narrowing his eyes, Sarutobi turned to young Itachi and noticed how still and tense he was. _He knows something about this._ "Itachi. Do you know something of this?" He asked, knowing how fiercely protective he was- the only answer could be _yes_.

Itachi was quiet for several heartbeats and then began speaking. Every word out of his mouth twisting himself, the village elder and the doctor all up in knots. Leaving each of them feeling visibly weak and shaken.

He told about the tools being used after the council had ordered Uzu to be prepped to service the Anbu sexually. He told of how she had fought, and injured three of the men who had been trying to force her to preform fellatio on them.

He told the elder and doctor of how he and everyone else had been summoned to watch her humiliation and degradation and eventually of how he had been summoned to 'help' prep her for her new job.

Sarutobi's mouth opened to ask what he meant, his mind in denial even though he knew. He knew what Itachi was trying to say without saying it.

The boy was crying at this point. He hated himself for what had happened those weeks he had spent trying to carry out his orders while fighting tooth and nail against them. He tried to assure the elder that he never touched Uzu unless she gave him permission- which was true- however he still hated his role in things those weeks.

He tried to tell the elder how he had wanted to free Uzu, and at several points had even attempted to do so only to be summoned and have not only his life but the lives of his family- his very clan- threatened. And so, having tried to think of another way to protect Uzu from the others while he was with her.

He told the elder that when he had taken her...that first time and every time after, some of the council members had been present to watch and make sure he didn't pull anything funny. He'd had to be rougher with her than intended then. But he had made it up to her by keeping others away from her while she rested and healed.

The other times he'd taken her body, he'd been very careful not to rough her up. Making sure that she felt something more than pain for once.

He'd done his best even with his hands tied, to take care of her and make sure that no one messed with her. He'd even helped her learn a few things about using sex against the enemy, and made sure that she knew- those who came to her when he wasn't around _were_ and always would be the enemy.

He told them about a conversation he'd had with her once, about why she didn't hate him. She'd simply replied that there was no point in hating someone who was at least _trying_ to make things easier for her.


	9. Chapter 9

After a bit more questioning and prodding from the elder, Itachi told him everything of how Uzu was 'punished' sexually when she had misbehaved with objects like metal pipes, razors and kunai often pushed inside of her and moved around for maximum effect. And how he had been forced to watch it happen while she had screamed and cried and then inevitably lost consciousness before the tools had ever been yanked out of her.

By this point, Sarutobi was so speechless that he didn't really care what part Itachi had played in things. His brain had only just processed so much of the information it had before he realized that Itachi himself hadn't been either the problem or issue.

After all, for as young as Uzu was- she was someone highly intelligent and likely wouldn't cling to someone whom had caused any serious harm to her person. Permission, and compassion or not. She simply wouldn't allow him close to her if he had been half as bad as he believed himself to be.

Besides, the child had probably known of the threats against himself and his family and had given her permission to alleviate a little bit of the guilt she had known he would feel upon laying his hands on her. On top of that, she had gone the extra mile to endear herself to him to the point where he panicked if he was far from her side and sight.

And then there was the fact that Uzu reacted much the same way, plainly meaning that both had suffered equally and as a result both had a type of post traumatic stress disorder that didn't allow either to function without the other.

Which meant in the long run that separating them for long periods of time _would_ and _could_ be catastrophic for the two. Which also meant that he needed to begin thinking about what Itachi would do as a shinobi from this point on.

He could appoint him as a special bodyguard- but there would be too many questions about who he guarded that it might prove difficult for him to do his job.

He could- no _would,_ as in there would be no question that he would remove him from Anbu black Ops and let him retain his rank and uniform for security reasons. Thus allowing him to assign him to Uzu while giving him the authority to use lethal force while watching over and protecting Uzu.

And until the girl was trained as a shinobi, that meant giving Itachi an job within the village as her protector and overseer. Which meant that once a suitable place of residence was found for Uzu, Itachi likely would be moving in. Permanently.

And that was fine, the elder supposed as his brain slowly- very, very slowly- began to start working again. It would definitely help him to sleep better at night knowing that she had someone capable of murdering everyone in the village aside from himself and Kakashi- oh. _Oh._ He'd forgotten almost completely about the Hatake heir, he inwardly cringed as he asked Itachi where Kakashi was.

Hoping that the stupid fools of the former village council hadn't done anything so foolish as to kill or exile the man.

Itachi blinked dark watery eyes at the elder as he thought about his question for a moment before replying, "Before the incident- Hatake-san was sent from the village on an extended mission. I have no idea where or when he will return." _If_ _he ever does._ Itachi thought as the elder sighed in exasperation and nodded his head tiredly.

 _Jesus. Fucking. Christ-_ Sarutobi thought as he pictured Hatake coming home to the village expecting everything to be as it was when he left only to find that things had happened that were so far fucking out there that it was beyond disgusting.

The man would summon his giant white wolf and unleash it upon the suspecting village sometime during the night. Causing a disaster much like the one of the nine tails. Only while the wolf was crushing buildings and devouring people- Kakashi would go on his own little murder spree.

And there would be no way to stop him or real safe place to hide from him. There would just be Sarutobi, a few of his remaining loyal citizen's/shinobi, Uzu, Itachi and much head shaking and headache medicine.

Turning away from the boy, Sarutobi looked at Lilian and mouthed, "Can you watch them? I need to go track down Hatake."

Lilian looked at him wide eyed for a second, understanding all too well that Kakashi couldn't be left running willy nilly though the village if there was any chance of him being back from his mission. Especially after everything that had happened over the past few months with Uzu.

Nodding her head in understanding, she told him to go and get Hatake before wild fires broke out all over the village and the streets ran red. In the meantime, she'd finish her examination of Uzu and keep her and Itachi out of trouble.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry I haven't updated this in a little bit. I'm sorry but this chapter might not be very long.**

 **I've been busy fighting off the need to send someone to the hospital due to stress and a damn near endless supply of Hulk- like rage.**

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The moment Sarutobi vanished from her office Lilian turned to the still crying boy, and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder causing him to twist his head around to look up at her and waited a moment before she spoke.

"I doubt that there is really anything anyone can do or say to make things better for you Itachi... Just know- if nothing else- that what happened to Uzu-chan, especially while she was being held in the Anbu's prison- was not your fault. You, for all you're skill are still a child, and as such- it is the responsibility of your peers to handle things like what have occurred. However, your peers have failed you. They were foolish and weak. You are neither of those things. You fought, and tried in your own way. Attempting to help where you can. You can only be commended for such efforts." Her voice was low, soothing, and held no censure.

She was merely... _trying_ to comfort him despite the fact that he felt he didn't disserve it for what he had done. Still, her compassion quieted his crying down to the point where he felt so mentally and physically exhausted that he allowed her to wrap her arms around him and comb her fingers through his long dark hair until he felt drowsy.

Yet through all that, he somehow managed to keep his eyes from moving away from Uzu's sleeping form.

After all, he was her watcher. Though he was now broken- he would not fail her again.

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Sarutobi, the moment he finally finished scouring the village- finally found Kakashi. And wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry at the very spectacle the young man made, thanks entirely to Gai, he would imagine.

Kakashi, was tied firmly- very, _very_ firmly if Sarutobi's eyes didn't deceive him any- to a very large and firm tree. Looking for all the world like an angry trussed up turkey just awaiting slaughter. But then he supposed that he could have found the man in a similar fashion to last time he'd flipped out concerning Uzu.

Though he wasn't sure if anyone in the village was now stupid enough to put him in a choke hold and let him gnaw on their arms, hands, wrists and so on while he dragged them down the street growling like a mad animal.

Like he had done to poor Gai.

The man probably still had the scars to show where Kakashi's overly sharp teeth had pierced his skin and ripped though the tissue and tendons leaving behind a large area of nothing but hamburger meat looking bloody flesh. Which _may_ or _may not_ have had something to do with the fact that Gai was currently hiding a good three hundred feet or so away. Behind a nice sturdy thicket of tree's.

Downwind, and clearly out of sight from his angry friend.

 ** _"Untie me now."_** Kakashi growled at him through tightly clenched teeth and barely moving lips.

Sarutobi raised a brow at the younger nin in a bemused expression that would have quickly become amusement if not for the fact that they had things to speak of. Like Uzu's current where about's and what had happened to her.

Shaking his head at the jounin he said in a soft almost coaxing tone, "Sorry. Can't." He may be old, but he wasn't such a fool that he didn't know what was going through Kakashi's mind right then. And frankly, he wanted nothing to do with attempting to clean up everyone else's mess.

He had enough damage control to deal with concerning Uzu and the assholes in the former council.

Kakashi growled at him, doing an rather fantastic impression of a rabid animal. Which was just another reason why the elder wasn't going to untie him just yet. Another was that he needed to go over the detail's of the events that had happened while he was away and let the Hatake throw his tantrums before he settled down enough to be told where Uzu was at that exact moment so that he could leave with him to go secure the girl before anything else happened.


End file.
